In search of balance: Can families both embrace and overcome the Internet?

Comments

Parents have to interact with their children enough to know what is going on
when their children are with friends at their friend's home, hanging out,
or just in their own home. Parents have to have controls such as what is going
on their own network, Internet or mobile device. Idle minds are not idle if
they are perusing things on the Internet that is not beneficial for the
individual's development of family, educational, and social skills.

There are some good tools for parents and guardians to access and help
monitor what their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren are doing.
For some couples, it may require some monitoring for a spouse and addictions do
happen, not just with controlled, illegal and access to other substances.

Arm of OrionCottonwood Heights, UT

Sept. 10, 2012 9:11 a.m.

My2Cents I honestly can't tell if you are trolling or actually believe what
you are writing. I have lived in the internet era. First off I don't think
that there is anyone in the world that thinks that technology creates itself.
Further technology doesn't limit one's education it actually expands
it. On a single internet browser I can have a tab opened to a science article
about Higgs Boson particle, a tab opened an article from the Ensign, and two
different tabs opened to Fox and MSNBC concerning the politics of the time. That
is just articles. On other sites you can find videos and tutorials on math
problems and proofs, home improvement, cooking, and other things. Certainly you
can't argue that learning is limited by technology with this abundance of
evidence to counter your claim.

Now for your assertion that it harms
families. Simply put it doesn't if the parents don't allow it to. They
can in fact use it to enhance communication with family. If I have a question
regarding a topic I can send a text to a parent and they can respond with an
answer quickly. Try again?

JWBKaysville, UT

Sept. 10, 2012 8:42 a.m.

With any good thing in the world, even technological advances, there are good
and bad aspects due to agency we all have.

The extensive family
history aspects could not exist today without these types of advances. The
ability of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and their various
programs throughout the world continue to grow extensively due to the positive
aspects of these technological advances such as twitter and other social media.
The family is social and social media helps the family keep in touch.

Parents have to use caution and especially moderation in all things as even
too much water for a person that was dying of thirst can take in too much water
and have a toxic reaction to water.

The world has plenty of a
adversaries that use those same technological advances to harm people, to
attempt to take away their freedoms by putting addicting items in those
technological advances. Even more caution for parents as those adversaries have
direct access to the homes that they are trying to influence for good.

Even as the military trains their soldiers to use firearms safely, parents
need to teach their children to use technology more safely.

Richard Allan JenniOcean City, NJ

Sept. 10, 2012 6:49 a.m.

Like a hammer being used to either drive nails or break windows, the net is
simply another tool to be used wisely. It is how I communicate globally,
accomplish most of my financial transactions and disseminate my political
writings and novels. And no, I don't waste time playing video games or
engaging in chat rooms. Nor do I partake of the disgusting plague of online
porn. The net is my window on the world. It saves me time and has made me more
productive- especially in genealogy. I can even interact with Deseret News! Yes,
I dumped Facebook because of privacy issues- and there are other examples of my
self-determination on the net. I pilot my own ship in close partnership with
Christ- and the internet is my servant, not my master. Let us teach our children
to profit by the net and also to avoid the snares and pitfalls therein- those
insidious traps laid so artfully by the Adversary. RAJ

cjbBountiful, UT

Sept. 10, 2012 6:29 a.m.

When white man introduced alcohol to the Indians, they were overcomeby it
because they didn't have the culture in place to resist it
appropriately.

Similarly we are overcome by the internet. If history
is any guidethis adaptation will take several generations.

My2CentsTaylorsville, UT

Sept. 10, 2012 4:14 a.m.

NO! Technology is not a way of life and should never be a way of life. What
this article is describing is the death of a nation and limiting its resources
to mind control and dependence on all things, inanimate objects that are nothing
more than pet rocks.

We forget, this so called technology does not
create itself, humans with minds and thought and experiences create
technology.

Technology is not the end of progress and we must get
past every kind and form of technology to progress beyond the one's and
zeros. Our nation must not end its progress with the idea we have reached the
end and who ever wrote the novel is in a stagnate world and can't think
beyond his level of ignorance.

Life and families are not
representative of the digit I and 0 and to focus and limit ones education to one
source of information is ludicrous. The family without technology in the home is
a happy family that can communicate with each other. Technology is not a prize,
its a monkey wrench anchor to progress developed by monkeys with no vision.